Sir Michael Moritz leads the way to fundraising success for Norwood

More than 200 professionals from across the banking, investment, law, real estate, business and tech sectors gathered on Monday at the Norwood Business and Entrepreneurs Breakfast Network to hear from one of Silicon Valley’s top dealmakers, venture capitalist Sir Michael Moritz KBE.

The event, held at the Rosewood London and sponsored by Harris and Trotter LLP chartered accountants, raised over £100,000 for the charity, which supports vulnerable children and their families, children with special educational needs and people with learning disabilities.

Sir Michael shared his take on the investment landscape with the audience, touching on everything from WhatsApp, Uber and promising British start-ups, to the personal qualities tech founders need if they want to be the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

Sir Michael Jonathan Moritz KBE is a Welsh-born venture capitalist with Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park, California in Silicon Valley, a former member of the board of directors of Google, a philanthropist and author. In 2015 he published Leading, a leadership manual co-authored with legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Speaking after the event Sir Michael Moritz said: "This was a wonderful morning with a room full of very enthusiastic backers of Norwood — such an incredible noble cause and I was happy to come and play a very small part.

"It’s easy for us who have an easy life to forget about those less fortunate. Norwood embraces and cherishes and takes care of people who, through no fault of their own, have serious disadvantages and aren’t able to navigate through life with the same sort of ease as the rest of us — it’s a terrific, caring organisation."

Norwood’s Business and Entrepreneurs Breakfast Network Co Chair Neville Newman said: "The theme of the day was very much about opportunity. The money raised today will do a tremendous amount of good, increasing opportunities for children, families and adults with learning disabilities to live their lives to the full."